So Mitt Romney announced his choice of VP - Paul Ryan, a Congressman from Wisconsin. For those that don't know who he is, he's the guy in charge of coming up with the GOP's budget proposal that despite passing the house has no chance of clearing the Senate. Why? Because it drastically ends Medicare as we know it now. Democrats will never vote to kill one of their greatest legislative achievements.
 |
| What have I just gotten myself into? |
My initial reaction to hearing of the Ryan pick was to bust out laughing. Then I stopped laughing to think about what having Ryan on the ticket means for Romney, and then I immediately started laughing harder. Prior to this pick, the entire Romney campaign was less about Romney and more about a referendum on Obama's Presidency - do we give the guy four more years or not? Now with the selection of Ryan for his VP, Romney has made this election a very clear choice between two competing ideologies. On the left - protect Medicare and the middle class. On the right - massive tax cuts for the rich, shifting the burden of taxes on to the middle class, and ending Medicare as we know it for anyone not already over the age of 55. Also, in the past, Ryan has backed the wet dream idea of George W. Bush - privatize Social Security. One of the tax breaks that I personally enjoy very much as a new father - the child tax credit- would be eliminated under the Ryan budget plan. I'm sorry, but I don't want to be paying more in taxes so that the super-rich get another tax cut.
The election has taken on a whole new tone today. The GOP is betting that people want to see the federal government get smaller, regardless of how much pain there is for many in the country as a result. The Democrats are betting that people will not want to see their taxes go up so the taxes on the rich go down even lower, and that they want to protect the social safety net. If you thought this campaign was ugly with class warfare before, buckle up and hang on, you ain't seen nothing yet. This is going to be a very ugly and bruising campaign. Welcome to it Congressman Ryan.
Bonus side note: Interesting historical fact with this ticket of Romney/Ryan. With a Mormon (Romney) and a Catholic (Ryan), this is the first ever major party ticket to not have at least 1 Protestant on it.
i think you're right about the choice in ideals. i think romney basically decided that his only chance was to double-down, energize the base, and hope that the folks in the middle tended toward their view of the future. i think he's counting on the fact that ryan is young and has charisma, but i do think the pick backs the independent into a corner, and that's not something i would have done. personally i think he would have been better served just holding steady and picking someone fairly non-offensive, middle of the road republican. ppl are still disenchanted with the current state of affairs, but not so much so that they want a full scale turn toward one drastic view or another. i think more of those folks in the middle would be inclined to vote romney if they believed that he was basically a more efficient and economically inclined version of the incumbent. then he would just have to hold his breath and hope the right wingers show up bc they have obama. now he has to hold his breath and hope the independents hate obama. i think that's dicier. we'll know in a few months.
ReplyDeleteIf he wanted to really energize the base he should've taken someone the Tea Party loves like Rubio, who also could've helped him make some inroads on the Hispanic vote. Instead, he chose someone that will hurt him further with both Latinos as well as women, based on Ryan's voting record. I think Romney will take a brief rise in the polls because of the base being energized by him picking a VP (he would've bounced regardless of who he chose) but I think as more and more people understand who Ryan is and just what his policies stand for, the independents are going to move away from Romney or stay home altogether. It's like the 2004 election all over again- the choice between a giant douche and a sh** sandwich. Either way there are some major problems with the nominees on both sides.
Delete